ClueBy
TodayArchiveWord list

Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
YesNo
↻ New worksheet

Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: mark · rush · tear · patient · face · capital · cold · season

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — part of the head
  5. tear — from crying
  6. capital — money
  7. face — to point toward
  8. mark — a grade
  9. capital — a city
  10. season — in sport
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. tear — to rip
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. mark — a trace
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. season — of the year

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com